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Closing the Gap on 400 Years

As we drove across the bridge, the wind gusted
off the St. Lawrence and the impending

rain clouds hung over the quiet oblong-shaped
island. Making our way down the single road that encompassed the isle on this
dark and rainy fall evening, it had become apparent; time had stood still on
this tiny parcel of land of 76 square miles. The flat agricultural landscape
known as the birthplace of New France housed a mere 7000 residents in six
charming villages. Our arrival on the L'île d'Orléans,
just outside Quebec City marked the second day in our family history vacation.
Hoping this trip would provide me, my sister and our parents with a connection
to our French Canadian history, it became clear and quickly, we wouldn’t be
disappointed.

The next
morning, we leisurely sat at the breakfast table of our B and B, the clouds
were still hovering and threatening, but they did not distract from the spectacular
view of the St. Lawrence, only steps from our table. We meandered over our scrambled
eggs, fresh from the chickens in the backyard, vegetables grown locally on the
island and cranberry juice hand pressed by our lovely hostess, LouLou. We had
all the fuel needed for a day of exploring our ancestral village of St.
Francois on L’île d'Orléans. Discovering a copy of Dictionnaire National
de Canadiens Francois by the Drouin Institut on the bookshelf of our living
quarters convinced me, I was immersed in a culture that knew and embraced its
past. I opened the book flipping to the pages noting my ancestor's name. LouLou
was educated onthe history of the island; her family had been here almost as long as mine,
one of the reasons I often proclaim the benefits of bed and breakfasts in family
history travels.

Despite the grey clouds and with a flick of button, our
umbrellas popped and we strolled to the yellow brick house a few doors down.
The building with its sparking metal roof and brilliant red flowerpots hanging in a neat row across the front porch gleamed like a jewel against
the backdrop of the rich green lawn that stretched to meet the waters of the mighty
St. Lawrence. The Maison de nos Aïeux houses the history of the first
300 French colonists who settled on the island during the French Regime. My 8th great-grandfather, Robert
Vaillancourt (1644-1699) one of those colonists arrived over 400 years ago, but this morning, we too had
arrived. Opening the doors of

the
historical society, I was excited to step inside and see just what I would
find.

Local
historical societies have become the heart of my family history studies. They
have been a worthy extension of my online research and necessary in my
writings. Although, I spend much time on
my computer with you here, in research and writing my family history stories, I
try to travel and explore the paths and villages of my ancestors, as I did this
past fall. My travels to ancestral towns as well to the neighborhood societies
that house the stories of these towns have provided me with a rich social and
local history I could not have imagined from the documents I have attained online.

Where do
you find local histories?

Local
histories are best found in small museums and genealogical societies, in the
communities of your ancestors. Usually they have a website allowing you to contact
them or arrange for a visit. They provide knowledge of the community that you
cannot replace with online research. Not only do they house the history of the
area, the staff and volunteers in these societies, have an intense
understanding of the region that no Internet search engine can possibly
duplicate.

You could
declare I was fortunate to find such wonderful rich history of my ancestor. However,
the reality is most of the facts about his life I had already obtained
online. What I found was a social and cultural history that gave me a deeper, richer perspective of his life, his struggles,
his triumphs, and his everyday living. What I found inL'île d'Orléans was the soul of his life.

The local
historical society provided me with details of my ancestor’s arrival and
activities in the area. I was able to purchase a book that had a chapter
devoted to my great-grandfather. I toured the museum and got an up-close
education on the history of the island alongside the regional and world events
that shaped the community and directly affected the lives of my ancestors. We
then set off to explore the island first-hand, I saw monuments with my family
name on it and businesses baring the surname today, we ate the cuisine and for a
few short days we inhaled the history and community of Robert Vaillancourt. It
left us changed.

I have visited many societies across Ontario
over the years. If I could offer you
some words of advice:

Cast your net wide, take in everything the
society has to offer, including the social and cultural history as well as the
data particular to your ancestors.

Give
yourself plenty of time, don’t rush, scampering on to your next appointment. Take
some time to get to know the town and the people who inhabit it. Spend a few
days if you can.

Make your
query in advance, give them time to dig their heels in and find all that they
can on your ancestors, providing you with the best possible visit.

If you
think my experience was one off, let me share with you another example from my
local society, The Norfolk Historical Society. On my last volunteer shift, I
helped a woman scan a dozen or more letters that her uncle wrote home to his
family, during WW1. They revealed so much more about this brave young man than
any documents she may have found on the Internet. She didn’t walk in that day knowing
we had a box of letters but she walked out with the heart of her uncle in her
hand. Those treasures are possible, you have to ask, and you have to go get
them.

What
societies hold in their collections?

What each museum
and historical society houses will vary from location to location. For instance,
in my historical society we contain a database of over 10,000 digitally scanned
photos. We have a digital database of all objects in our museum, a vast paper
archive and library of rare books. This does not begin to include our reference
books or microfilm files. Most of these items will never be seen by family
historians on the Internet.

Most historical
societies provide a variety of resources from pioneer history, church histories
along with school, club and organization histories, family bibles, family
biographies, photographs, maps, artifacts and transcribed records. Do not under
estimate the value of local historical and genealogical societies in the
advancement of your research.

When I
visited L'île d'Orléans, I walked away with a breadth and depth about
Robert Vaillancourt that I could not have rendered from my online research. My
sister and parents enjoyed getting to know their 8th great-grandfather’s
history, his community and the daily events that filled his life. The 400 years
that separated his life from ours when we crossed that bridge on a rainy
September evening is now nearly wiped away.

Do you have
you a local historical society visit that you want to share?

Leave a
comment or write a blog post about your own experience. Let’s continue to sing
the praises of local historical societies for new family historians who have
yet to learn about their immense value.

4 comments:

I wrote a blog a couple of years ago after I visited my local historical society. I've been volunteering there ever since. They have so much information that can't be found anywhere else. http://colbertwhelanfamily.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/think-local-for-genealogy/ I've since found my grandson's great grandfather in the truant officer's book (he was really sick) and his great great grandparents in the member list of the Slovak Catholic Church. We answer questions about buildings that no longer exist, we have thousands of photographs of our area not to mention maps, newsletters from companies that no longer exist, and the wealth of knowledge of our volunteers. Local historical societies really are a valuable resource.One more story - I helped my cousin with her research - she was planning a trip to England. I wrote to the local historical society in the town where her grandfather was born - turns out the person who responded was her second cousin. He and his family had always wondered what happened to the son of his grandmother'sbrother.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. The local historical societies are such a wealth of information that add much color to to our ancestors' lives. The volunteers are so gracious and helpful when I visit. It is also not unusual for me to come away having met a "new" cousin as well. Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging me to share mine as well.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about visiting local genealogy and historical societies. These visits add so much color to my ancestors' lives and I come away with an increased appreciation for who they were as individuals. I often meet "new" cousins, too. Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging me to share mine.

Though I live 1,200 miles west of it, I have had the privilege of visiting The Four Rivers Genealogical Society in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri twice in the last 3 years.. You can't just go once and take it all in. On the first trip, I photocopied 1,000 pages of information in their genealogy library that I haven't totally worked through yet. I made some new friends with whom I have kept e-mail contact. I purchased several books from them: large plat map books of the county, pamphlets and booklets written about specific aspects of the area history, and other wonderful books I would have never found on line. On the second trip 2 years later, I got to go in the annex archives and actually touch the big original probate record books from the late 1800's. I also spent a lovely evening driving around Franklin County with a husband and wife who are a genealogist (husband) and local historian (wife) from the area. We talked and talked and they showed me special places. It was WONDERFUL. I can't wait to go back again, I just have to save up my pennies and time so I can!I would advocate joining the local genealogy society from a specific area you are interested in. You make friends by paying the (maybe $30) dues, you get newsletters, and you have a connection that is great when you actually get to visit. It helps you know who is who in the local history circles, and you know when a new book comes out. You really can't find these books/pamphlets/brochures/maps any other way!

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